A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Morocco on Friday night time, killing greater than 1,000 folks and devastating a area the place many susceptible buildings have been unable to resist the shaking.
Sources: U.S. Geological Survey; WorldPop
The epicenter was about 35 miles west of Oukaimeden, a well-liked ski resort within the Excessive Atlas Mountains, in line with the United States Geological Survey. Rubble crammed alleyways in Marrakesh, a UNESCO World Heritage web site, and homes have been flattened in villages within the countryside.
Round 1.8 million folks stay within the space that skilled sturdy shaking, the place the chance of harm is highest, in line with a New York Occasions evaluation of shake depth information from the U.S. Geological Survey and inhabitants density information from WorldPop. About 3 million extra folks skilled average shaking.
Marrakesh, the biggest metropolis within the zone that skilled sturdy shaking, has one of many nation’s most densely populated medinas, historic mazelike neighborhoods on the heart of many Moroccan cities.
The quake brought on widespread harm within the metropolis of Marrakesh.
Fadel Senna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Pictures
Though a lot of southern Morocco, the place the quake struck, is rural, the area’s cities and cities are sometimes very densely populated.